After re-watching Hamburger Hill today I have to ask you VN vets something

[walnutred]

How did you keep your hair looking so good? I'm watching these guys rolling around in rice paddys under fire. When they come up for air they are covered in muck and mud right up to the helmet. Yet when the helmet comes off it looks like your hair is freshly blow dried.

It must be the steel pot helmet as I've noticed the same in WW2 movies. We could never pull that off during Desert Storm. When I took my Kevlar off it looked like someone had dumped a bucket of water over my head.

After watching Saving Private Ryan I mentioned the movie to a co-worker who had been a Korea vet. He said "You can do all you want with visuals and surround-sound, but if anyone ever comes up with Smell-Surround it will probably be the last war movie ever made.

 

[STCM(SW)]

"After watching Saving Private Ryan I mentioned the movie to a co-worker who had been a Korea vet. He said "You can do all you want with visuals and surround-sound, but if anyone ever comes up with Smell-Surround it will probably be the last war movie ever made."

More truth to that then you know....
Found that out during Desert Storm when stationed at the Dover DE. Port mortuary......

 

[vonn]

Stupid battle tactics and an even stupider movie.

 

[Inusuit]

I've always admired those B Western actors with gleaming white teeth and an even tan. Must have been great dental hygiene back in the 19th century.

 

[max]

Most everybody I knew in VN was sweating all of the time and hair was always wet.

 

[walnutred]

I've always admired those B Western actors with gleaming white teeth and an even tan. Must have been great dental hygiene back in the 19th century.

If you examine photographs of cowboys in the late 1800 one of the distinctive characteristics of the cowboy was the two-tone facial tan. This shows up better in formal photos with there hats off. Although in all fairness this would probably be equally true of farmers or anyone who spent a lot of time outside.

 

[torizus]

While watching tv one morning a long time ago, I seen Laura Petry awake from a nights sleep in her bed (Rob's bed was across the room in another zip code) and she had not a hair out of line,eye lashes, makeup and not a crease in her night gown.
I made a comment out loud..........

Never did that again.

 

[andy52]

I though everyone knew that we had personal groomers at our side at all time just on the out chance Walther Cronkite would happen by with his news crew...…...

 

[LoboGunLeather]

What I have noticed more than anything else depicted in movies about Vietnam is the age of the actors.

When I was in Vietnam the majority of the troops were 18 to 22 or so years old. A few were 23 to 25 or so, mostly college graduates working off their earlier draft-deferment status.

I was promoted to Sergeant at 19 years old, responsible for a dozen people. We had young officers (2nd and 1st lieutenants) who were 21-23 or so, and captains (frequently commanding a combat infantry company of 120 troops or so) who were 23-25 years old.

Warrant officer helicopter pilots were frequently 19-22 years old (although some were prior enlisted ranks with several years service prior to flight training, maybe 25-30 years old).

In the field it was rare to see anyone much over 25 years old, and those were Staff Sergeants or Sergeants First Class. The only time we saw "the brass" in the field was when field grade officers (majors, lieutenant colonels, colonels) showed up with photographers for a photo op.

In the movies I have seen the troops are portrayed mostly be adults, frequently 30-40 years old. I never saw that in real life.

Babies leading babies was the primary rule. Kids with a year or two in the army and a couple-three stripes on their sleeves placed in positions of responsibility well before we were old enough to order a drink in a bar or vote in a public election. 1972 was the turning point at which 18 year olds were permitted to vote, and I was already home from my second tour in Vietnam when that happened.

 

[Jessie]

Yes, I don’t care where you served or when. If you’re living among 20/50/500 other gents, things tend to smell at times.
I hope it’s not the same with the ladies.

 

[walnutred]

What I have noticed more than anything else depicted in movies about Vietnam is the age of the actors.

.

Statically the average age of an 11B in country was 22. However I suspect those above that age tended to be higher ranked and possibly in a rear area rather than out in the bush. My dad was born in 1922 and spent WW2 land based Navy Air Corps in the Pacific, mostly torpedo bombers. He commented once that by the end of the war he was one of the oldest active aircrew members on the island he was stationed on, an old man of 23.

 

[STCM(SW)]

There were comments of what I was doing at age 51 on active duty....
Said they better check out how old General Schwarzkopf is.

 

[Leslie Sapp]

My dad volunteered for the Navy and went to WWII at 34. He said he was the oldest guy on the ship, save the Captain.

 

[usmc2427765]

When I was in RVN, I always kept my hair short. Less hassle from the company gunny and less field maintenance.

 

[walnutred]

My dad volunteered for the Navy and went to WWII at 34. He said he was the oldest guy on the ship, save the Captain.

On the other extreme dad said that one of the islands he was on had a PT boat repairman who was on his third war. He had lied about his age to get into the Spanish American war, was legal for WW1 and lied again to get into WW2. The guy had spent his life working for some New England yacht company and could not only patch the wooden hulls used on PT and Higgins boats like no bodies business but could TEACH how to do wooden boat repairs. Fortunately some people were willing to look the other way to get a needed skill set where it was needed most. A rare thing in the military.

 

[Muley Gil]

I attended the American Legion's Boys State in 1971. There I met the comptroller of the State of Maryland, Louis Goldstein. During his talk, he told us that he joined the Marine Corps not long after Pearl Harbor. He said he was 30 years old at the time and was older than everyone else in his recruit company at Parris Island!

During WW II, the average age of a combat Marine was 19.

 

[Justin T]

I had a relative who lied about his age to join the navy at the end of the first war. He was nearly too old to be accepted, but knew how to cook for and feed lots of people at once, so they put him to work. He did the same thing for war 2. Did a lot of drinking, fighting, time in the brig and demotions. Died working as a civilian for the navy in San diego. Just couldn’t stay away from it.

 

[CH4]

Good question. I am currently in Nihn Bihn, which is near Hanoi, and my hair is a mess without wearing a helmet.

 

[Rosco Shooter]

I kept my hair especially short - fewer places for bugs to hide.

 

[Texas40]

Lets see its called a MOVIE

And they are called ACTORS.

Seperate reality from fiction and you will quickly realize the silliness of this entire thread.

Back to reality now.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk